La Liga hosts its opening 'Clasico' of the season as Barcelona and Real Madrid do battle at the Nou Camp on Saturday. Standard Sport spoke to Sid Lowe, author of Fear and Loathing in La Liga, for his view on the grudge match and an enduring rivalry that transcends football.

1. With the provocative Jose Mourinho no longer at Real Madrid and both managers, Carlo Ancelotti and Gerardo Martino, being more genial sorts, is there any chance that Saturday’s Clasico will be a less spicy encounter than in recent years?

SL: Yes, there’s a very good chance of that, certainly in terms of what goes on around the game. But to some extent Mourinho had begun to withdraw anyway by the final year and the idea that, without him, everyone would live happily ever after is of course nonsense. History has taught us that. Mourinho was not a man who built the rivalry but one who tapped into and exacerbated it. Also, there have been a couple of encounters between Ancelotti and Martino already. Martino described the 100m euro transfer fee for Bale as being a “lack of respect for the society we live in.” Ancelotti seized on that, implicitly noting that Barcelona had spent £57million on Neymar. At what point does a figure become a lack of respect? “He hasn’t been here long,” Ancelotti said, “and it seems that he doesn’t yet know Spain ... or his own club.” Which Madrid fans thought was hilarious and the perfect comeback against Barcelona’s ‘hypocrisy’, their ability to present themselves as the good guys without justification. Another key factor: on the pitch it will be fiercely competitive of course. This game will still go a very very long way to defining the way the title race will go and these are still two hugely powerful teams.

2. What do you think will be Jose Mourinho’s legacy at Real Madrid – will he be remembered fondly as the man who wrestled back the league title from a dominant Barca or for all the bitterness and fighting in and outside of the club?

Volatile: Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola had an intense rivalrySL: Both. The most striking thing may well be what he does for Madridismo, how he impacts on the club at a social level. I wonder if he may have created at Real Madrid or at least brought to the surface at Real Madrid what Johan Cruyff always complained about at Barcelona: the ‘entorno’ or surroundings, that sense of political pressure, division, media interference, internal splits, ‘-isms’ amongst fans. Some supporters welcomed him as the leader who took Barcelona on, who was aggressive, who did not turn the other cheek, who provoked Barcelona and told a taboo truth. Others see him as the man who trampled on bits of Real Madrid’s tradition. Both of those postures are an exaggeration of course but even his critics would recognise that the balance of power in the Clasico shifted a bit with him. And yet in the final analysis, he ended having won two major trophies in three years and finishing 15 points behind Barcelona – the biggest ever gap between second and third.

3. Is this one going to come down to who has the better game out of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

Mr Barcelona: Lionel Messi has often proved the difference in this fixtureSL: Not necessarily, but it is tempting to see it like that of course. Neymar could play a huge role too. All over the pitch there are brilliant players.

4. Real Madrid’s signing of Gareth Bale this summer made a real statement. Were the club under pressure to sign a big name following Barcelona’s acquisition of Neymar (who was previously targeted by Real Madrid)?

SL: Yes, Real Madrid had tried to torpedo the Neymar deal. The strange thing was that they admitted it, claiming ... get ready for this ... that he was too expensive. They would have been and indeed were interested in Bale anyway, for many reasons - not least because he is a very, very good footballer - but the signing of Neymar by Barcelona made them even more determined. It made the signing a necessity. There’s that symbiosis again - they are football’s very own Frank Butler and Annie Oakley. Anything you can do ...

Samba star: Neymar elected to join Barcelona over Real Madrid5. Gareth Bale and Neymar. Both signed for a lot of money and hailed as successors to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi respectively – how do you think they will fare at these gargantuan clubs?

SL: The quality of the teams around them mean that, domestically, at least, it is very hard to see them being anything other than a success. Neymar has started superbly and although Bale has had injuries I think he’ll make an impact. The real test will be Champions League though. Much may depend on how they settle, how much they enjoy it, how they deal with the pressure.

Double impact: Gareth Bale joins Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid6. British players don't always thrive when they move to Spain - what would be your advise to Gareth Bale?

SL: Enjoy it. And that 'protection' such as the entourage is a false friend. Be open, be inquisitive, get involved. Think of this as a place to live and to engage with, not just somewhere you play football. Listen to people, ask questions, look up where you’re playing, take it in.

7. You studied the history of the rivalry between these two great teams – if you could have witnessed any Clasico in the past between them which would you choose and why?

SL: I’d love to have seen the 11-1 from 1943 to get a sense of just what the atmosphere was like. I spoke to the one surviving member of that Barcelona team and he talked about it as something that they had simply never seen before. Real Madrid had handed out 15,000 tin whistles with which to greet Barcelona. So, it would be fascinating to see that ... and if I could have been in the dressing room too, where an authority figure threatened Barcelona in some way, then so much the better.

8. Did the two clubs try to influence your interpretation of the rivalry when you were researching for the book?

SL: Neither tried to influence me at all but they had, and have, slightly different attitudes towards history books and the importance of socio-political elements. Barcelona in theory are more open to the idea than Real Madrid but in practice that doesn’t mean you get much genuine help.

Golden era: Real Madrid 'Galacticos' Figo, Beckham and Zidane9. Are the historical and cultural differences between Real Madrid and Barcelona as pertinent as ever today in this age when football are as much businesses as institutions?

SL: They are every bit as pertinent in terms of factors such as identity, popular perception, self-identity and backdrop not least with the fact that the push towards Catalan independence is at a crucial point, but you could certainly argue that in a practical sense there is less that separates them now. They are more international than ever before, their business models are similar, they have much in common ... but even those identities are built upon elements beyond the purely footballing.

10. Both these teams including several stars from Spain's all-conquering national team - do you think the era of Spanish football dominance is nearing its end?

SL: It may be, it may not be. Spain have very good players coming through and there is a style and an identity that means that success may well continue but you have to define ‘success’. This generation probably is unique and winning a tournament is hard, even if Spain have made it look easy. Xavi, Xabi Alonso and Casillas may well be at their last tournament. If he makes it, Puyol certainly will be. But they have not just changed their past, they have changed their future too and they will now be among the great nations to be taken seriously for a long time to come. If they don’t win in Brazil, it will be considered, naturally enough, the end of an era. But is it really? You can’t always win. And they will be back at Euro 2016 among the favourites again, almost certainly.

Fear and Loathing in La Liga: Barcelona v Real Madrid by Sid Lowe is published by Yellow Jersey Press.